Here are just a handful of fabrics we love for some of these projects. Click on the fabric images to visit the Sew,Mama,Sew!shop:

Buy It

French Macarons from Sparkle Kitchen
Visit Sparkle Kitchen’s Etsy shop for a box of delectable French Macarons. With nine different flavors to choose from, each macaron will be a treat anyone will thoroughly enjoy.

Mix It

Christmas Mendiants from Dessert First
Anita (a.k.a. Pastry Girl)is a dessert blogger and cookbook author who shares her tasty recipe (and a little of the history) for Christmas Mediants on her blog Dessert First.

Print It

Printable Collection
Lolly from LollyChops has put together a huge Free Printable Collection. Download and enjoy her colorful recipes, ornament tags, cards and much, much more!

Win It

Tweet #handmadeholidays anytime this week for a chance to win a $20 gift certificate to Sew,Mama,Sew!

Comment in today’s post for a chance to win one of these books! Visit our prizelists to see some of the other great giveaways this month.

Build a candy fantasy! Sharon Bowers shows you how to use ordinary store-bought candy and cookies as the raw material for a brand-new kind of crafting. Top a sheet cake with a crushed-cookie racetrack, tiny candy cars, and a candy pit crew—and watch the delight on your birthday boy’s face. Set out fudge-striped cookies and peanut butter cups to keep small family members busy making pilgrim hats on Thanksgiving Day. Spend a rainy afternoon with your kids, making a pirate ship complete with little pirates made of licorice and candy corn. You’ll find simple, step-by-step instructions for making dozens of things children love, including spaceships, butterflies, a fairy-tale castle, a dump truck, planes, Egyptian pyramids, aliens, a steam train, Christmas trees, Easter eggs, and much more — all crafted with candy. The sweet possibilities are endless!

Yes, you CAN! More and more people have discovered what grandma always knew: canning and preserving supplies you with wholesome, tasty treats year round. And this Homemade Living guide provides all the practical, hold-your-hand basics along with plenty of step-by-step photos. Learn about the necessary tools of the trade, crucial safety tips, and hot water bath processing and pressure canning. Discover the all-important science of salt and sugar, and how to select the best possible ingredients, favoring seasonal, organic, and local options. Three topic-specific primers cover pickles, relishes and chutneys; jams, jellies, butters and curds; and whole fruits and veggies—and each offers at least two “Canning Classic” recipes with variation ideas.

Celebrated designer Amy Butler’s most coveted products are her handbag sewing patterns. In Style Stitches, Butler presents an array of new bag designs for her fans across the globe. The book offers 12 basic patterns with enough variations to achieve 26 unique looks. Ranging from chic clutches and delicate wristlets to pretty hobo bags and handy coin purses, with instructions for altering dimensions, straps, and embellishments to get the desired look, each project incorporates Butler’s fresh, modern style and attention to detail. With illustrated step-by-step directions, a comprehensive techniques section, and a bound-in pocket filled with the patterns themselves, Style Stitches is an essential and fashionable addition to every sewer’s library.

Create these simple, modern sewing projects using your own one-of-a-kind fabrics!

Transform what you sew. Personalize and customize your sewing projects in a whole new way by learning to design, print, and embellish your own fabrics. Sew Charming includes forty fresh, easy-to-sew projects with optional fabric-printing ideas. Inside you’ll find patterns for clothing, accessories, and decorations for every room in your house.

From the designers of the popular fabric line, Prints Charming, invite you to get creative and offer step-by-step instruction for basic screen-printing, sewing, and embroidery techniques. They provide everything you need to handcraft truly one-of-a-kind pieces—from cozy baby quilts to sophisticated table linen, chic wall art to playful sundresses. Whether you are eager to experiment with fabric printing or already have the perfect material in your stash, these simple yet creative projects are ideal for all levels of sewers looking for bold inspiration.

With beautifully photographed stitch and screen-printing guides, detailed instructions, and three pullout pattern sheets, it’s never been easier to create bright, modern items to enliven your home and the people that share it with you.

The Green Grocery Bag Challenge is a project to encourage sewists to wrap their holiday gifts in reusable cloth grocery bags, thus reducing the amount of wrapping paper entering the waste stream while simultaneously getting multi-use bags into the hands of consumers. Please include Mother Earth in your holiday plans. Read more here and join us on The Green Grocery Bag Challenge Facebook page where we’ll be posting wrapping ideas, sewing patterns and tips for reducing waste this holiday season.

Love the idea for the apron with hot pads included! But the apron looks far too pretty to just be an apron even with all the beautiful styles out there already. I want to wear it as a skirt… and I wouldn’t even mind the built-in hot pads.

Love the apron with built in hot pads. Maybe that will stop the burnt fingers when I forget that after being in the hot oven for 20 minutes the pan tends to be a bit hot. More burnt fingers than I like to admit too!

These are all amazing ideas! I really love the idea of wrapping things in reusable grocery bags– I have taken to gifting kids things in drawstring bags that double as storage for the item but why not adults too! We can all use extra bags!

I love the bread bag tutorial! I love to giveaway fresh baked bread and have never thought of wrapping it in fabric. I’ve been wanting to give canning a try for this season’s holiday gifts! As always, thank-you Sew Mama Sew for the inspiration!

I’ve made the chef hat–It’s a huge hit!! I did it in white muslin with a matching double sided apron. The recipient wears it to help his mama in the kitchen…she’s asked me to make another for their daughter!

I had two immediate thoughts on seeing this post: 1) Perfect for my friend Jenn! and 2) Canisters?! I’ve been looking for the perfect flour and sugar holders — I do a LOT of bread-baking, and I have 4-5 different kinds of flour in my cupboard that are in high use. I would love to have matching containers with beautiful quilted labels like that! Perfect.

Although I am about as far from a ‘foodie’ as you can get, we do take a loaf of bread to just about every get-together we attend! I LOVE the bread bag idea! And I do have foodie friends – I think aprons and canister sleeves just got added to my gift list!

Making the apron with hot pads for daughter. Love it! The books look fun. I’m always looking for new ideas for canning. I have to check out the Sew Charming book too. The t-shirt bag is so smart. Just found you recently and am really enjoying your site. With all these wonderful ideas, could you maybe do it in October next year to give more time to get the projects done by Dec 25? So many projects, so little time! Thanks!

Once I get caught up on all my other projects, I am SO going to make the pleated apron with built in hot pads! And, I love the kid’s chef hat. Oh, and I love the bread bag. Okay, and the canister wraps too…okay, I love it all today!

That breadbag is really interesting, I should try that! Does it keep your bread fresh? And I like the shopping bag a lot, it looks so easy to make!
And I can’t believe the recipe for the mendiants, it’s one of my favorite things to eat! Yay Thanks so much!

This may be my fave list of tutes so far, thank you so much. The bread bag in particular has really inspired me. I’m was thinking about making some loaves of bread for neighbors and such and now I’m definitely doing that, with those bags. using that tute with regular fabric would yeild great alternatives ways to wrap other presents too.

Subscribe to the sewmamasew.com newsletter

Get the latest sewmamasew.com news via

Sew Mama Sew is a blog and sewing community founded in 2005. We collaborate with outstanding bloggers, designers and authors to deliver unique, high-quality sewing content on a daily basis.

Meet Kristin + Beth

We always travel with handmade bags. We have vintage embroidery framed on our walls, piles of fabric next to the sewing machine and more WIPs than we'll ever finish. We love the history, craft and artistry of sewing. Read More

Our Mission:

Promote sewing and other needle crafts by providing instruction, inspiration and encouragement.

Celebrate the work of talented quilters, sewists, writers and designers.

Connect the historical foundations of quilting, sewing and needle crafts to current trends.

Demonstrate ways to use new products, including fabric, patterns, books and tools.

Respect our readers, contributors and partners.

Sponsor + Partner Opportunities

If you represent a business that is passionate about sewing, quilting or needlework, we'd love to hear from you! We work with like-minded business in a variety of ways, including:

Brand Promotion: We'll help get your name and image out there through ads and sponsored posts.

Product Promotion: We can spread the word about your new product release or arrival to your shop through giveaways, reviews, interviews and social media.

Creative Content: Let's put our heads together to help you meet your business goals! We can collaborate on tutorials, contests, surveys and more.

To learn more about our business partner opportunities, please Contact Us.

Join Our Contributor Community!

Contributing a project or article to Sew Mama Sew is a fun way participate in the sewing community while gaining exposure for your blog or brand. We’d love for you to join us! Learn How